29.11.16

Hi friends, my blogging is pretty erratic these days as juggling so many things right now. Sharing a mixed media plaque I made as DT project for Crafters Corner to showcase stencilling techniques. My mixed media plaque celebrates life and enchanting nature with a butterfly and an angel encompassed in a semicircle of soft vellum flowers!

Mixed Media Tutorial

The colorful butterfly panel in various shades of pink and magenta is mounted on a curved piece of cardboard to raise it above the stencilled woodgrain background .

Mixed Media Tutorial

My "celebrate" is also mounted on a curved platform and has tiny shiny star sequins and shimmering translucent glass beads from glass beads gel!

Mixed Media Tutorial

The raspberry pink flower made using Heartfelt Creations Botanical Rose Stamp and die set has a generous sprinkling of distress glitter and diamond dust.

Collage clay has a thicker texture compared to Ranger Texture paste but you can get a nice coating using a palette knife. Here is a post with more on Collage Clay and projects using Collage Clay : Collage Clay Projects

21.11.16

Rulers are one of the most basic of craft supplies ...you and me have used it from childhood.

But in this post I am going to be talking about special features of craft rulers that make crafting easier and more fun for us crafters!

Rulers

Exploring the various features of craft rulers was both challenging and exhilarating!

I fervently hope you find this post and the video Tutorial useful !!

Special features of Craft Rulers

Metal Edge

The metal cutting edge is a super useful feature for papercrafters as it allows you to use a rotary cutter or craft knife with a cutting mat to easily and snugly cut along your ruler without slicing off a part of your ruler!

Metal Cutting Edge

This allows you to use your ruler to get a nice straight cut on paper , fabric, chipboard etc

Cons: you need to hold the ruler firmly against your paper/chipboard so that it doesn't slip

You need to use a cutting mat when using the craft knife/rotary cutter!

Clear Acrylic Rulers

Being able to see under your ruler is an indispensable feature !

Pro : You can see exactly where you are cutting and measuring and only acrylic rulers can have the feature of a grid

Con : Scratches, Breakage, markings wearing off over time

Grid Feature

You can use grids to

Easily and quickly draw parallel lines by using the grids as guides

Easily create mats and frames for your pictures as I have shown in the video

Centering Feature

This is the feature I find most useful and its something which you will find indispensable once you start using it!

Centering Feature

How to use Centering : refer to the video

Uses of centering

Hanging something precisely requires finding its center point!

Centering an image

Scrapbooking -precise centering of photos

Card making- Matting and Layering precisely and easily

Using Grids of rulers

Card with mats created with ruler grids

Card making- making layered cards and card bases easily and quickly

Card layers

Card Base made with help of Rulers

Adding embellishments at equi distances.

Adding brads/eyelets/pearls perfectly at equi distances

Centering eyelets on a tag

Using the centering feature its super easy to mark the exact center of you tag/ photo-frame etc

Christmas Tag

Precise placement of a sentiment

Centering a sentiment

Here is a Video Tutorial I made to show you how to use grids and the centering feature.Its my very first video with a voice so please do forgive my mistakes.

Piercing Holes in the RulerStitched shapes are the vogue in the craft world right now and there are so many dies which can give the beautiful pierced hole edge feature but how about if you don't have a die cutting machine or want the versatility of being able to create your own customized pierced lines...well then pick up a ruler with the piercing holes feature.Things you can do with the piercing feature

Add a pierced hole border around your cards/ layouts

Stitch through the holes

Create a lattice of holes

Create patterns and even letters with the pierced holes

Play with spacing of the holes

Piercing feature in ruler

In the Tim Holtz ruler, holes are placed at 1/8 inch intervals so you can create stitch lines on your cards or layouts by using a needle tool [ I have used a humble thumb tack] and a foam base .

Pierced Border using ruler

You can create a stitched border all around!

Pierced frame border using ruler

And you can play around with the distance and create rows and even create patterns!

Piercing patterns using ruler

Now that I have discussed the features of craft rulers here are the salient features of different popular brands of rulers.Tim Holtz Idea-ology Design Ruler12 inch clear acrylic, centering ruler, with piercing holes, grid and metal edge.Sturdy ruler.My crafter friend Melissa said the markings wore of in hers and she had to get several of these. I have been super careful with mine and store it in a foam lined box I made for it so mine is holding up good!Cons : Difficult to use the line where the piercing holes are as it is a difficult to see through in that particular area. Also the 1/4 inch tapered edge on the centering edge was not very easy to use to get a 1/4th inch line if you are using the grid feature to draw let's say parallel lines.

Creative Impressions Acrylic Ruler

This is my personal favorite among the lot!12 inch clear acrylic ruler with metal edge,grid and Centering ruler with 1/4 inch measurements on one side and 1/16 th measurements on the other sidePros : The markings are only 1/4 inch on one edge and that gives a nice uncluttered lookYou also have the option of a centering of 1/16th inches which is an advantage over the ideaology Tim Holtz rulerIt is also 2 inch wide which is wider than most rulersAlso comes with a nice plastic cover which you can use to store the ruler and also hang it .Cons : It doesn't have piercing holes so keep this in mind if that feature is very important to you

Has a Metal edge on one side and is calibrated in both inches and centimeters

The groove in the center allows you to firmly hold the ruler and press it while you use your craft knife this protecting your fingers and decreasing the chances of the ruler slipping.

Manufactured by the pioneers of ruler making, the Westcott company who have been making rulers since 1872 .Here is the link to a wikipedia article about the brand for those interested in a bit of history : Westcott Scissors and rulers

7.11.16

I find making cards for crafter friends very very difficult as I tend to worry too much about whether they will like it since they are crafters themselves and so talented! I obsess about every imperfection in my card and finally work myself up to such a level that I end up not sending cards to my crafter friends!
But recently I managed to convince myself that since I myself love all types of cards and loooove receiving cards , that maybe my crafter friends will like my cards too !
So this multilayered card was made for an amazing person...Shalini Mittal, the owner of Crafters Corner, the most amazing craft supply store in India of which I am the DT !![I have written more in this post : Crafters Corner]

Vellum Card

This card has sooo many layers : card stock, handmade paper, pattern paper and lots of die cuts! The white oval is a clay embellishment I made and has tiny roses and leaves! Added texturing with shiny heart sequins, glass beads gel and a splattering of gesso!

The flowers and leaves were made by stamping on parchment/vellum with various Heartfelt creations stamps.

Handmade Flowers

Also added a few handmade soft felt flowers , a heart shaped metallic buckle[ made with a Spellbinders die and metallic card stock] and a stylish " cherish" [made with a Tim Holtz die from Sizzix]

Here is a closeup of a gorgeous crystal dragon fly and in this photo you can also see the shimmer of the inka gold I rubbed on in various places!

It was a bit tricky to make the vellum rose from layers of heat embossed flowers but then in the end it turned out gorgeous ! What do you think my friends?

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About Me

Hi! I am an ENT Surgeon and mom to a crafty little girl. This blog is to share crafty projects, tutorials and crafty tips .I love to interact with crafters and would love to visit your blog too if you have one.Do leave a comment whenever you can and if you enjoyed visiting Do follow this blog via email or becoming a blogger friend!